Zultan of Lyseroth

Chapter 1

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

They were first born during a time of so much joy. It would later be learned that uncertainty, heartbreak and even envy also birthed the creatures.

Kembry stared down at their community from one of the surrounding peaks that made up the Trepid Heights mountain range. She was “picking berries” for her mother. Really though, she was escaping her bland life for a few hours and hoping to spot - or maybe dreading seeing - a dragon.

At that height, she could see for miles in each direction, and she was just able to make out the Wilden Woods in the distant East. Her older brother, Kaed, was over there somewhere. He would return home within the next week, unless by some miracle he had been accepted into the Valley’s forces.

It’s not that Kembry didn’t think he’d be a good soldier. Actually, she thought he’d be a great one. But she didn’t think he fit the typical “brainless fighter” stereotype. Kaed was creative and kind, and so incredibly smart. He could think his way out of pretty much any problem.

He had forgotten that about himself when their brother, James - Kaed’s twin and closest companion - died a few months ago.

So yeah I mean… he’d be a great soldier, but I can’t lose him too.

Kaed didn’t like Kembry much these days. He always referred to her as “just his annoying little sister” so when he wasn’t looking she would do petty, albeit amusing, things such as licking his food or cutting holes in the toes of his socks.

Kembry chuckled, thinking about the last meal she’d shared with him before he left.

He’d caught her putting a chunk of cold meat back onto his plate after she’d licked it.

Oops.

Kaed hadn’t known she’d licked it, so she told him she had seen something on it and was getting it off for him.

Huh, weird. I feel a little guilty. She chuckled again. For lying, that is. Not for licking his food.

He can’t see me as anything other than his annoying little sister right now, but someday… Someday I’ll make Kaed proud of me, the way he was proud of James. The way that I’m proud of him.

Kembry straightened up a bit, tying up her long locks of wavy, hay colored hair with a black ribbon as she continued to scan the outlying lands. She stilled as she spotted a lithe black dragon crawling out from underneath the eaves of their neighbors, the Smith’s, barn.

That’ll be the second child they’ve lost, she thought. Their final son, stolen by this war.

Tears welled up in her eyes as the wailing reached her ears.

But then another sound joined the wailing.

Kembry froze, recognizing the shooshing noise as a pair of flapping wings that were rapidly coming closer. She ducked out of the dragon’s line of site and ran toward a close outcropping of rocks.

I’ll just wait it out here… I’m sure it’ll pass quickly.

Unfortunately though, it began circling directly overhead - getting lower by the second. Kembry realized a moment too late that the boulders she had tucked herself behind marked the entrance to a large cave.

Shoot. It wants this cave.

“Nice choice in location… I’ll give you that much. This cave would make a great lair,” she mumbled to herself wryly as she planned her next move.

The dragon still circled, wings spread wide. As it dropped in altitude, Kembry noticed how the wings seemed translucent in the noon sun, with thick veins showing through as silhouettes against the light. It reminded her of the thin paper lanterns they designed and released into the night sky at harvest each year. As the lizard landed, the wings folded gracefully against bony sides, and his head shifted forward, a large blue tongue forking out to test Kembry’s scent.

She crawled away from the entrance, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, and trying to tell the dragon that she didn’t want the cave. She kept her eyes on the dragon’s throat, watching for a glowing red neck, which would be the first sign of flames. She’d never encountered one this close, but she’d heard plenty of tales from friends who had.

After all, they weren’t nicknamed Generation Dragon for nothing. The other youths close to her age or born in the last decade would never know a memory from before the time of dragons.

Kembry’s foot slipped out from underneath her and her back slammed to the ground, her head bouncing as it struck the hard surface of the mountain. A cry of pain slipped out.

At the sudden movement and noise, the startled dragon took to the sky once again, giving Kembry a moment to make a desperate escape away from the cave and rocks. She scurried to the far side of a felled tree twenty yards away and dropped low, trying to slow her breathing.

She heard the dragon land a ways off again, and chanced a peek a moment later when no more sound came from that direction.

“Sneaky little punk,” she thought, spying the dragon sitting silently by the cave. That thought was followed quickly by another.

OH CRAP. GLOWING RED NECK.

Kembry jumped from her hiding place behind the log and sprinted down the mountain; flames roaring around her and heating her backside. She patted frantically at her clothing and hair while still attempting to maintain a good speed. Soon she realized that the dragon wasn’t giving chase, but she didn’t dare to take another look behind her for a few minutes more.

Kembry finally slowed when she came to a stream. She stripped off her shoes and tunic, wading in to cool her feet and assess the damage. The ends of her tunic were black and ragged, and her pants were a bit singed, but still wearable. She only had a few minor burns on her forearms, which she soaked in the cool water.

Welp, it’s my own fault for not picking berries. But on the plus side, I’m sure mom’s going to be pleased with my new haircut. She felt the singed tendrils on the back of her head, noticing that her hair ribbon now contained a third less hair than it had five minutes before.

Stupid dragons.

Kembry recalled the tales she’d heard of The Beginning.

The Beginning to the time of dragons arrived during a bountiful harvest. The breed of dragon that rose from the fields the morning after the particularly bright harvest moon were a sweet, protective support to the folk of the Valley. They were often seen swooping here to bring water to tired old souls and tumbling there to drop scorched dead things at the feet of young maidens - these dragons thought dead things a tasty treat; however, the fair maidens almost always did not.

They were small, stained a dark red in color and covered with a soft scale that the children loved to run their chubby fingers over. The people rejoiced and praised their existence, naming them the Garnets of Lyseroth.

Another time, when the Prince of Lyseroth was callously rejected by a beautiful princess from a land beyond their borders, a bundle of green dragons popped up in his garden and ate every apple that could be found anywhere. They weren’t necessarily bad dragons, those Peridots, just a bit of a nuisance. And perhaps a bit of a disappointment when considering the Garnets from The Beginning, who still showed up from wherever they migrated to help harvest each fall.

Now, The Beginning is a distant memory. A war over border disputes has been ravaging Lyseroth for almost a year. Two months ago, when the death toll peaked after a particularly brutal battle, mothers cried out in the nighttime, grieving the young sons that had been lost.

And another breed had come.

It hadn’t happened in one specific location - like the field in the Valley or the gardens of the castle - this time, but all over the continent. It seemed to the people of Lyseroth that wherever a mother wailed, a dragon erupted from the ground.

And they have not stopped emerging.

These dragons, referred to as Schorls by the people, are a deep black in color and fear the light, shying away from everything good and wanting nothing to do with humanity. They flee soon after rising, snapping at anyone around and scorching the lands in passing, then keeping to the darkest caves and deepest fissures.

Witnessing the Schorls’ behavior was disheartening for the people of Lyseroth. They had long prayed for a new dragon breed to be born – one that would help them to move past this time of war – but the Schorls weren’t what they had in mind. They were, in fact, the opposite.

So, the war continues. And new Schorls arise whenever the fighting reaps another young soul.

The Lyserothians joke dryly that this pestilence isn’t the worst thing to happen. Having Schorls pop up gives them an occasional break from fighting, since the Schorls’ flames force them to set down their weapons and rebuild their homesteads.

Unfortunately, the stubborn people always pick up their weapons again, so the war - this messy, life-robbing war - rages on.

She wrapped up her thoughts as she climbed onto the bank of the stream, drying her feet on some moss before putting her shoes and tunic back on.

I’ll pick some flowers for Mrs. Smith on the way down the mountain. And hey, if I’m lucky I’ll find some warblers in our traps for dinner. Death, dragons and fire dust. Just another day in the Valley.

Kembry set off for home, dreading the lecture she was sure to receive from her mother and humming a sad tune.

......................................................

Oh, Blood Moon, call ye them forth,

Bring up yonder Garnets so sweet.

To rise and to shine as the Sun that first light,

Welcoming next a long season of reprieve.

Oh, Envy, you harsh wanton mistress,

Dragons green, from his heart the Prince reaped,

But e'er will he find that the apple of his eye,

She was not but rather of joy, a thief.

Oh, war ravaged lands, be thou silent.

Cry out for our blood no more.

Take back the black beasts that hearts broken, released,

Return lost youths once again to their homes.

..................................................................

“Bugger, that’s hot!” Kaed cried, dropping the fish he’d been roasting. He scrambled to pick it up before the dirt had time to settle on the scales. He’d heard – as all good Lyserothians had – that food wasn’t dirty unless it were resting upon the ground for more than five seconds.

Kaed was the perfect age to fight, but he had been rejected by the Region Commander. The commander had taken a brief look at him and scoffed, saying, “What am I supposed to do with ye…? One blow and those spectacles’d go flying off yer face! Ye’d be practically blind, and a risk to yer fellow soldiers! Go on now, back home!”

That was yesterday.

“I shouldn’t have cried,” Kaed mumbled to himself around a bite of fish. He pushed his glasses up his nose, further smudging his already dirt-streaked face. “Now they think I’m a blind batty AND a tot.”

He was camped at the edge of the Wilden Woods, contemplating his existence. And also sniffling every-so-often. Being told that he couldn’t join had felt like the final blow.

How much more can I take?!

His twin brother was lost to the war a few months back before the First Raze of the Schorls, and Kaed had longed to avenge his death at the border of the Valley. Kaed had done his best to discourage James from enlisting, but he wouldn’t listen. James had wanted to prove himself. As twins and best friends, it had been one of the first topics they’d ever disagreed on.

What were you hoping to prove, brother? Kaed thought, feeling more of the frustrated tears trace paths down the dirt on his cheeks. Now I don’t have you, or the army, or home... Because if I go home, you know Mother will just send me to the smithies to be an apprentice and I HATE it there. He envisioned the dark, hot, noisy space where metal is pounded into useful objects.

Kaed ate a few bites, going over his limited options.

I could go North! He jumped to his feet in excitement thinking about the possibility. He had always dreamed of crossing the Great North River into Norskenland someday, and besides, his mother would just assume he was off somewhere fighting…

No. I’d be eaten by a Yultan. He slowly sank back to his rock with that realization.

“I’ll go West!” He stood up quickly again, raising his fist into the air in triumph. But no, if I go West, I’ll have the Copse of Demise to deal with. He recalled tales of the tall, ghastly looking willows that danced under the moonlight, chasing wayward travelers should they venture close enough to peek. They are very private trees.

As he slowly sat again, something hard poked his backside. Kaed squirmed a bit, assuming it was the rock.

But the rock squirmed back.

“AHH!” Kaed yelped, choking a bit on his fish and scrambling away before turning to see what he’d sat upon.

It was a shimmering dragon, no bigger than a mutt, and it was staring straight at him.

“AHH!” Kaed yelped again, since every word he knew failed him at that moment.

The dragon hadn’t moved yet. It was still just… staring. Straight at him.

A new breed.

“Ahhhhh…?” Kaed dragged out his yelp half-heartedly this time. The dragon tilted his head questioningly. Still staring straight at him, but with mischievous eyes now.

Fight or flight. Kaed thought to himself. You’re just standing here, and this is clearly a fight or flight moment.

It wasn’t though, as Kaed would soon come to realize. This dragon had been born right underneath him. And because of him. He was wracked by emotion because of the previous day’s happenings, and that had produced a dragon.

Now, don’t be silly. The dragon didn’t come out of Kaed – he’s a boy, not a chicken. No, it came out of the ground where the rock Kaed had been resting upon had sat. And no, the rock hadn’t become a dragon. If you must know every little detail, the rock had rolled to one side a bit. To the left side, specifically. And back a little.

Anyway…

Kaed cleared his throat, “Excuse me, dragon,” he began, “I’m sorry for sitting on you.”

The dragon continued to stare at him in that annoying little way of his.

“Would you like some fish?” Kaed questioned.

The dragon stayed quiet, so Kaed glanced around, hoping to spot some inspiration for how to handle this situation. He didn’t, so he dropped to the ground and stared back at the dragon.

“I was wondering what I should do next.”

The dragon licked its front talon, seeming to ignore the boy.

“Should I go North?” Kaed asked his silent companion.

The dragon licked its other front talon.

“Should I go West?” Kaed resumed nibbling on the fish as he spoke, more to himself this time than to the dragon.

Odd, really. Am I imagining this creature? I’ve heard of the Garnets, of course, though I haven’t seen them… but this isn’t red. It’s not a green Peridot, or a black creepy thing either…

Kaed stared at the dragon while it continued to clean its feet, trying to classify the color. He couldn’t. The dragon shimmered first from silver to a light russet color then to a golden yellow and back to silver all in a split second’s time.

“Are you real?” He questioned impatiently.

The dragon stopped licking and stared at Kaed again, this time appearing to understand the question. It leapt toward the boy, who jerked backward in surprise at the sudden movement, and placed its front talons on the boy’s chest, their noses almost touching.

Kaed felt more than heard a clear, “Yes,” emanate from the small dragon.

The creature pushed off the boy, pivoting on its hind legs and returning to its original spot with a smug look on its face.

Kaed stood and walked away.

Welp, that decides it. I’m going home to mother. Because I've LOST my MIND. First, I imagine this, this... DRAGON thing, and now the imaginary DRAGON THING is putting words into my brain. He slowed, lifting a hand to his heart where the dragon had placed its talons. He had felt the dragon’s answer inside of him.

Nope. Nupe. No.

He looked back, quickening his pace again as he realized the dragon was following him. The dragon sped its pace as well.

Kaed stopped walking and it bumped into the back of his knees, causing his legs to buckle forward. He ended up in a kneeling position on the ground with the dragon sitting directly behind him looking confused, and Kaed chuckled, momentarily forgetting the weight of his unknown future.

It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?

“You’re probably called something, aren’t you?” Kaed gauged the dragon’s reaction a moment before saying, “Or maybe I’m supposed to name you…”

The dragon perked up at this.

“You’re kind of silver. Ish.” It didn’t perk up at this.

“Yes, well, okay… so I wasn’t naming you silver. I was thinking out loud,” Kaed explained to his silent buddy, “And yes, I do see your different colors… but all the other dragon races were named after gems. Garnets are red, Peridots are green... It’s only right that I follow that same pattern, you see?”

The dragon perked up again.

“Well, I don’t know any gemstones that are silver, or whatever color you are. What color are you?!” Kaed continued to puzzle aloud. “A moment ago, I saw green. Now I see light brown and some yellow,” he paused, “You know, the prince once proposed to a foreign princess with a Zultanite ring. It’s said the ring changed colors in different lights.”

The creature wiggled a bit with what Kaed supposed was an affirmation.

“Zultanite? Yeah? Do you like it?” he asked, tentatively reaching a hand toward the creature. When the dragon’s nose brushed his fingertips, he felt the word “Yes,” rush through him again.

Kaed exhaled upon feeling the uncomfortable sensation.

“Zultan,” Kaed tried out a shortened version, and it fit just so well.

Zultan jumped around in a circle, pouncing hard with his front talons each time he landed, before staring up at Kaed again, as if to say, “And now, let’s go.”

Kaed laughed at his antics.

And now, let’s go… where? North? Home? Somewhere. ANYwhere… yeah. That's it. He thought. We'll go anywhere.